Method of weaving cut pile fabric



METHOD OF WEAVING CU T FILE FABRIC Filed Feb, 24, 1933 a i j PatentedMar. 30, 1937 PATE This invention relates to a cut pile fabric and hasfor an object to provide improved means for cutting the pile of fabricautomatically while the fabric is still in the loom.

A further object of the invention is to provide a guide over which theloops are woven, said guide being provided with means for automaticallycutting the loops after weaving.

A further object of the invention is to provide a knife properly locatedrelative to the loops of a pile fabric which engage the loops as thefabric progresses through the loom, and cuts the material of the saidloops.

A further object of the invention is to provide a guide having a knifeat the end thereof, said guide being properly positioned in the loom sothat the loops of the pile filling are woven over the guide, said knifeengaging the loops as the material progresses, so that the threads ofthe pile filling which is woven over the guide is severed atsuchintervals as the weaving of the fabric and foundation makes desirable.

A further object of the invention is to provide in combination with aloom, which is equipped to throw two shuttles, one of said the fillingfor the foundation, the other shuttle carrying pile filling, with guidespositioned between the line of travel of said shuttles so that the pilefilling is woven over the top of the guide, and woven into thefoundation fabric which is produced below the guide, said guide beingprovided at its .extreme end with a ,knife properly proportioned andpositioned to cut the loops which are woven over the guide in the usualweaving operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a. knife forcoaction'with a 160m, said knife being carried by a guide extendingthrough the reed and harness, and permanently affixed to a position infront of the harness, the knife being thereby held against longitudinalmovement at a point subsequent to the position of beat up of the lay.

The invention, therefore, comprises a knife carried by a guide, theguide being inserted through the lay and harness and attached fixedly tothe loom in advance of the harness, and positioning the knife at a pointwhich engages the fabric after being beaten up by the lay, with meansfor actuating the warp to provide sheds both above and below the guides,and means for throwing two shuttles, one through each of said sheds, onecarrying the filling thread for the .foundation fabric, the othercarrying the tufting thread and all so arranged that as the weavingprogresses and the fabric advances after weaving. the knife method ofweaving shuttles carrying engages the loops of the tufting thread andsevers the loops to produce a cut pile fabric.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a conventional loom,with one guide extending through the reed and harness, the harness beingpositioned to indicate the control of the threads 'to produce two sheds,one above and one below the plane of the guides, said guides beingprovided with knives for severing loops formed thereover, I Figure 2 isalso a diagrammatic view showing the knives in top plan, andschematically, the reed and harness,

Figure 3 is a perspective view knife,

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view through the knife part taken online 44'of Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view through the guide taken on line5-5 of Figure 3,

Figure 6 is a schematic view of one knife and associated woven parts, a

Figure '7 is a transverse sectional view throug one type of weaving, and

Figure 8 is a transverse sectional view through another type of weaving.

Like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts through theseveral views.

In the weaving of pile fabric it is essential that the pile be firstwoven as loops, and whether the loops are cut depends upon whether thefabric is to be a loop pile or cut pile fabric. The present invention isdirected to the production of the guide and of a cut pile fabric whereinthe pile is first woven as loops, as outlined, and then as the fabricprogresses through the loom after weaving, the pile loops areautomatically cut so that the fabric emerges from the loom'as a-cut pilefabric without manual operation in the cutting of the loops.

In the production of pile fabric wherein the loops are produced byfilling threads, it has been customary to employ all .the fillingthreads of such a nature as to produce the required pile.

The present invention involves the use of two shuttles, thrownsimultaneously, whereby the foundation fabric may be constructed of astrong, hard twisted and, thereforeJong-lived thread, whereas anothershuttle carries a different type of thread which is of a nature toproduce a surface pile of such richness as may be found desirable.

To carry out this invention a loom of substantially the usual andordinary type is employed wherein a lay H) with reed ll functionstogether with a harness l2. The threads l3, l4,

and I4 are, of course, warp threads which pass versa to form the body ofthe fabric. dividual warp threads elevated to I3 to form the through theeyes of the heddles and through the reed dents.

With this construction a plurality of guides I5 are provided which areattached at I6 to any approved bar I! which extends transversely acrossthe loom, and so arranged that the guides also extend through theharness and reed dents.

At the end of the guide opposite the attachment at I 6, the guide isreduced in height, as shown at I8, and the length of the guide is suchthat the lay will beat up the filling threads at this part of the guide.

Following this reduced part a knife I9 is carried by the guide sorelated that several pile loops are formed upon the guide before thefabric in its progress brings the loops into engagement with the knife,which, by reason of the loops being formed over the guide, is insertedinto the loops as the loops progress and the cutting edge of the knifebeing inclined with the lower end within the'loops, the loops aresevered as the fabric progresses.

The guide l5 may be made in any approved manner and from any approvedmaterial, and the knife I9 of any approved cutting material, may beattached in any approved relation, and by any approved instrumentality.

It has been found, however, that an acceptable and desirable type ofguide is made up of two lamina of very thin metal which are connectedtogether throughout their length, as by soldering. This construction ofthe guide by the making of two lamina soldered, adds a considerabledegree of rigidity, but its principal desirability lies in the fact thatthe knife I9 may be inserted between the lamina and secured therein bysolder or the like.

While the guides themselves are .almost indestructible in ordinary use,the knives wear and require replacement. So constructed of the twolamina with the knife between, it is obvious that by heating, the oldknife blade may be easily and quickly removed, and a new blade likewiseeasily and quickly inserted and secured therein by solder or otherwise,to maintain it in fixed position.

- The slot at I6 is found a convenient way of attaching the guide to thebar I! which extends transverselyacross the loom, but, of course, theinvention is similarly inclusive of any means of attaching the guide atthat end.

With the guidesso positioned they will remain in substantially astationary plane throughout the weaving process and the harness is soarranged that it will produce two separate sheds of the warp one above,and the other below, the plane of these guides. To produce theseseparate sheds the harness sheds the warp threads into three separategroups indicated at I3, I4 and II in Fig. 1, forming the shed A betweenthe warp groups, I3 and I4, and the shed B between the warp groups I4and I4. The sheddings of the warp threads are such that the pile ortufting threads are floated over a number of warp threads, and

when the harness again sheds the warps, those formerly at I3 are moveddownwardly to I 4, as are the warps from I 4; whereas certain of thosewarp threads from I are raised to l3, and the remainder to I4. Themajority of warp threads are shedded alternately from I 4 to I4 and viceThe inshed A are the tying warps for the pile threads;

and these vary with the successive sheddings of threads are in staggeredrelation to each other. The warp threads from I3 are lowered after eachthrow of the shuttle so that they are woven into their proper place inthe body of the material; and the other warp threads are raised beforethe next throw of the shuttle. This makes the number of warps betweenthe wires I5 and the tying warps vary on each side of the wires and theknives carried thereby; so that the cut pile will vary in length to givethe desired effect to the finished article. Two shuttles 20 and 2| areshown at Figure 1 schematically as traversing the upper and lower sheds,respectively, in which relation the upper shuttle 20 would carry thetufting thread between the warps I3 and I4, or shed A, and the lowershuttle 2| the foundation thread between the warps I4 and I4, or shed B.As hereinbefore stated, the two shuttles are thrown simultaneously.

At Figure 7 the weaving of the tufting loops is shown as being bound bya single warp thread. This type is relatively satisfactory with sometypes of tufting thread, but when the tufting thread is particularlyslippery, as for instance, silk, rayon or the like, it is necessary tobind the tufting thread into the foundation fabric by more than onethread, and at Figure 8 is shown what is known as a W-weave, wherein thetufting threads are bound by three warp threads.

The schematic Figure 6 illustrates that type shown at Figure 7 where thetufting thread 22 is held by only a single one of the warp threads, andthe knife I9 is positioned to travel intermediate the adjacent bindingwarp threads, the positions in both types of weave being shown,respectively, at Figures 7 and 8.

It will be seen, therefore, that the knife and the adjacent part of theguide are always located above and right upon the foundation fabric,with only the loops of the tufting thread above this part of the guideand knife, and so related that as the fabric progresses after weaving,the loops are progressively severed by the knife which remains fixedrelative to the loom.

Of course, the method of weaving cut pile fabric illustrated may bemodified and changed in various ways without departing from theinvention herein set forth and hereinafter claimed.

I claim:- 1. The method of weaving a weft cut pile fabric which consistsin shedding warps to form upper and lower sheds upon opposite sides ofstationary guides which extend in a direction parallel to the warps andwhich carry knives, simultaneously shooting a pile weft through theupper shed and a base weft through the lower shed, with the pile weftfloating over the guides and certain of the warps, shedding the warps toweave in the base weft, and at the same time tying in the pile weft thepile wefts of alternate shots along the same warps, in one longitudinalzone the points of tying of alternate pile wefts being within the pointsof tying of intermediate pile wefts, and in the next adjacentlongitudinal zone the points of tying of the intermediate pile weftsbeing witflin the points of tying of the alternate pile we s.

2. The method of weaving a weft cut pile fabric which consists inshedding warps to form upper 5 and lower sheds upon opposite sides ofstationary guides which extend in a direction parallel to the warps andwhich carry knives, simultaneously" shooting a pile warp through theupper shed and a base weft through the lower shed with thepile 10 weftfloating over the guides and a varying number of the warps shedding thewarps to weave in the base weft and at the same time tying in the pileweft at diflerently spaced intervals as measured by the number of warpsbetween the 15 points of tying in, said last mentioned shedding againforming upper and lower sheds upon opposite sides of the said guides,simultaneously shooting the pile weft and the base weft through theupper and lower sheds, respectively, with the pile weft floating overthe guides and a varying number of the warps, then shedding the warps toweave in the base weft and tie in the pile weft along warps which areadjacent to the tying in warps which tie in the pile weft on the firstmentioned shot, repeating the above noted shedding and shootingoperations to tie in the pile wefts points of tying in of the alternatepile wefts, and

then drawing the woven fabric over the knives to cut the pile wefts asthe fabric is being taken from the loom.

JAMES A. FLIGG.

